The Past Returns
by Yami Neko
Summary: Yami Bakura remembers his past in ancient egypt. This includes the death of his parents and may be too sad for young children. It will eventually introduce a character, Kit, who was Yami Bakura's friend.
1. Dreams and losses

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh, I don't own dinosaurs (well, I do own the purple T-rex). I also own the girl, Kit. I don't own the idea of yokai (I got that from Inu-Yasha which I don't own either). Anyway on with the fic!  
  
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Yami Bakura: I was lying awake in my soul room. Next door Ryou was asleep, dreaming about not being able to find his favorite shirt. It didn't matter. I've looked through Ryou's dreams, his hopes, his fears, and his fantasies. Seeing those things gives me a better idea how to control and at times impersonate my hikari. Most of the things are the stuff you would find in anyone's mind, half remembered dreams of books or games, images floating about, no more solid than mist.  
  
One of the dreams was special though, it had happened when Ryou was about five, just before he got the Millenium Ring. Ryou was standing outside of a house in a little town who knows where. It was somewhere neither of us has ever been. Suddenly a roar sounded and a T-rex came out of nowhere, its dark green skin glistening under the full moon. I, no he heard some whimpering and turned around, to see a girl, about the same age as him. She looked terrified, like she would rather have been anywhere else. I suspect she would have turned and run away, if she hadn't been floating outside the second floor window. Suddenly a voice spoke, it said to summon a monster and fight. Ryou didn't know what that meant at the time, but the girl swallowed and raised her left arm. Suddenly another T-rex materialized, except that this one was purple, and started attacking the other one. When the green T-rex was defeated it had vanished, the girl looked relieved, then she and the purple T-rex vanished as well.  
  
Ryou kept dreaming, but his dreams shifted to something about playing in a temple his father had told him about. I wasn't interested in that dream. The girl did interest me. There are some dreams which are just so different from normal dreams that they have to be prophetic, this was one of them.  
  
That girl, she reminded me of someone from a long time ago. A girl I had been friends with in my previous life. I had been reincarnated, part of me in the Ring and part of me as Ryou, so why couldn't Kit have reincarnated to?  
  
...............  
  
It started in Ancient Egypt. At the time I was a young boy named Baku. Did I still have white hair and pale skin? Yes I did. My great grandfather was a yokai, a demon that can take human form or that has human form. Often the descendants of yokai/human pairings have white hair. I got my white hair and yokai blood from my mother. I don't remember much about her, she died when I was only seven. I do remember she had beautiful white hair and brown- green eyes. She was also very kind and gentle; she made toys for me because the neighborhood children wouldn't play with me, because I have yokai blood. I remember, my favorite was a doll, it looked like a girl, her hair was long and blond, she wore a long white dress and had one bird wing and one bat wing.  
  
"That's the Change of Heart," Mother told me. "Many duelists don't like it, because it will change a monster from their side to their opponent's side, but I like to think of it as a card that turns enemies into friends."  
  
As a child I liked that. I use to wish the Change of Heart doll would come to life and change the kids that were always bullying me into friends. I didn't realize it until later, but all the toys Mother made for me were monsters from the Dark Games.  
  
On the fateful day I was playing in my room. Change of Heart had just defeated a particularly nasty looking monster called Two-headed King Rex. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. I got up from my game and went to see who it was. Father opened the door to reveal one of the pharaoh's guards.  
  
"May I speak to you a moment sir?" inquired the guard.  
  
"Of course, come in." Father looked up and noticed me standing in the doorway. "Baku, go back to your room and play, you need not concern yourself with adult matters."  
  
I quickly closed the door, but I didn't go back to playing. Something was wrong, why was this man here and not Mother? I knew mother did dangerous things. She hadn't told me what she did; she said she didn't want me to worry. However every so often she would leave for the palace. Some days she would return dejected, some days she returned happy and carrying a sack of silver. I worried though, because every time she seemed worn out and her arms were covered in scratches, her waist length silver hair matted with sweat.  
  
I listened to the muffled voices. Father had taken the guard into the back of our home, so that I wouldn't hear. I wondered why Father had seemed so serious. Soon I got my answer. I heard footsteps and the opening and closing of our front door. I heard Father's footsteps coming toward my room and quickly moved to sit by the toys on the floor. The door opened and Father came in, looking sad. He went over to the little cot that I slept in and sat down, then patted a spot beside him to show that I should come over.  
  
"Baku, now listen to me son, your mother won't be coming back."  
  
I was confused. Mother wasn't coming back? Why? "What are you talking about Father?"  
  
"Have you ever heard of the Dark Games Baku?"  
  
"Yes, those are those ritual games played with magic, right? What does that have to do with us?"  
  
"Baku, you know that your mother had yokai blood right?"  
  
"Yes, that's why we have white hair and we don't get sick as often as normal people." "That's right. But it also gave your mother the ability to take part in the Dark Games. That's where she got the money and all those scrapes. It was because she was a duelist in the dark games." Father sighed; he looked so lost and sad, like someone had taken his world away. "She tried to duel someone who owned one of the legendary god cards. There was an accident and instead of simply being defeated she was killed."  
  
I felt tears welling up in my brown eyes. Mother was dead? How could this happen? Father must have noticed my expression, because he put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close.  
  
"There, there, Baku, it's OK to cry. Even powerful yokai cry sometimes, it's OK for a human boy to cry." I looked up into my fathers face and saw tears in his brown eyes. At that point I broke down and started sobbing into Father's chest, his brown hands stroking my snow white hair.  
  
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Oh, my, god, that was so sad, poor little Yami Bakura, loosing his mother like that. I honestly cried a little as I was writing this, it's so sad. I hope you liked my first fanfic so far. Reviews are welcome. 


	2. The funeral and the pharaoh

Hi, I guess if your on the second chapter that means you like (or at least tolerate) my fanfic. Thanks for your support.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh, Inu-Yasha or anything having to do with them. I do own Kit (she will probably be introduced in either the 4th or 5th chapter).  
  
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Yami Bakura: About a week after Mother died a funeral was held. Mother's body had vanished into the dark world after the game, so a stone tablet was used it its stead. The tablet pictured mother, her hair painted white, her skin golden pink, she wore a long, flowing dress that was left the gold color of the stone. She was facing toward the right, a sign that she had been a great duelist. Surrounding Mother's image were images that I now recognized as monsters from the dark games. I recognized my favorite, Change of Heart, standing in front and above mother. I didn't recognize any other monsters but I noted that very few of the monsters were the human shaped ones that were most common. Mother's tomb wasn't one of the grand ones used for pharaohs, instead it was a small building called a mastaba. It had one room, the burial chamber, a long corridor that would be sealed up once the tomb was furnished, and a sort of chimney that Father said would let Mother's soul leave the tomb and go to heaven.  
  
In the mean time Mother would have all the things she had loved in the tomb with her, there was even a note I had written on papyrus telling Mother that I loved her. I had given it to her for her birthday one year. Mother was always so kind to me so I had decided to draw a picture and write something. I wasn't a terribly good artist at the time, but I tried to draw Mother and Father and me, and then below that I had written "Happy birthday, I love you Mother." I remember, mother treasured it, she said it wasn't a masterpiece but that it didn't mater, because I had made it just for her. I was glad Mother would be able to look at the card and remember me. I wondered if when Mother left the tomb she would come back to say goodbye to me, and to Father.  
  
"That's the hardest thing," I thought sadly to myself. "I never got to say goodbye to her."  
  
I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to see a boy, about my age but shorter, his blond bangs were set off by the black spiky hair with red tips that covered the rest of his head. I recognized him immediately as the pharaoh's sun, Yamasen.  
  
"She was your mother?" Yamasen asked curiously. When I nodded he continued. "I heard about her, my father talked about her a lot, apparently she was one of his rivals."  
  
I turned around and glared at him. I'd never glared at anyone in my life but this boy didn't seem to care at all that Mother had died because of the stupid dark games. He even seemed to like the dark games.  
  
"So, are you going to be a duelist like your mother?" Yamasen inquired hesitantly. Apparently he was put off by the look I had given him. "I know I'm going to be one, when my father has finished playing the dark games I'll get the Millennium Puzzle he wears around his neck. That will give me the right to play in the dark games. I guess since you have yokai blood you wouldn't need a millennium item."  
  
I was angry. Not only had the dark games taken mother away but they were threatening to trap me as well! I would not have it! I was about to tell the young prince what I thought of the dark games but Father must have sensed trouble and walked up.  
  
"No, my prince, I'm afraid my son won't be taking part in the dark games. His mother would not have wanted it." Father's voice cracked, I didn't need to look up to see the tear streaks on his face or his bloodshot eyes. I also didn't need a patch of still water to know that my eyes were at least as red and that my face was salty with tears.  
  
Yamasen shrugged his lean shoulders and turned to walk back toward his father, who was talking with some other men. As Yamasen left I saw a young boy and girl, about his age, approach him. The girl looked back at me; her blue eyes showed that she understood my feelings, her brown hair framing a face that showed obvious concern. The boy, who was blonde, a rare color in Ancient Egypt, seemed just as oblivious to my feelings as his friend had.  
  
"Come on Baku, let's go home. The funeral is over."  
  
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OK, I'll explain some of the things in the story. You probably wondered why Baku's mother facing toward the right in the tablet made her a strong duelist. I have noticed while studying Ancient Egyptian art for a college course that often during scenes of hunts, wars or other things of that nature those who are victorious/stronger are facing toward the right while those who loose the battle face toward the left. I think this may be symbolic in a lot of Egyptian art so that's why I included it.  
  
It is also true that sometimes statues or other representations of a person were used as a vessel for their soul instead of the original body. I'm not sure why this would be in the real Ancient Egypt but it seems easily explained by the dark games in the Yu-gi-oh version of Ancient Egypt.  
  
I made up the name Yami Yugi had in his previous life. Yama is a corruption of the word Yami (dark) and sen is the Japanese translation of the word "thousand". Put together they make what sounds like a half decent Egyptian name.  
  
Yes, Anzu/Tea and Joey (can't spell his Japanese name, it's just too long) do make a cameo in my fanfic, mostly because in the Playstation game it implies that they are reincarnated from the pharaoh's friends. I think there may be some implication in the TV show too, but I have yet to see it.  
  
I know this chapter was kind of short and relatively uneventful. I needed a way to introduce Yami Bakura to the pharaoh/Yami Yugi. They'll meet up again later in the story but I wanted Baku to have had some previous experience with him. I also ended up using it to brush up on Egyptian artwork (I have a quiz on it soon).  
  
For all you Yugi/Yami fans out there I didn't mean to make Yami seem so dense, since he is still young I think of him at this point as being very much like Yugi, so he was actually concerned for Baku, however he didn't know him and the only thing he knew they had in common had to do with the dark games. He just didn't realize that he would be pushing the wrong buttons. 


	3. More losses and gangs

Welcome back. Once again, I don't own Yu-gi-oh or any of the ideas in my fic that come from Inu-Yasha. I don't own Ancient Egypt or any of the treasure therein.  
  
Good news Malik fangirls! Malik will be an important character in my fic for a few chapters here.  
  
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Months passed while Father and I grieved for Mother's death. Father earns money by selling cloth that he buys from traders. Sometimes he even gets silk from far away China. Eventually father came up to me.  
  
"Baku, I... ever since your mother died I have wanted to ask if you would help me in the shop. I wanted to give you enough time to grieve."  
  
I didn't know what else to say. I was happy to have something to do and I went to work in my father's shop. Sometimes I tended the stall as my father made deals with traders inside our cooler house; mostly I acted as an errand boy. Father gave me a cloak to cover up my snowy hair. I was glad of the covering; it protected my pale skin from the harsh desert sun.  
  
Even with my help life was harder for us now; I never realized how much money Mother had earned from winning in the dark games. Father sold cloth, however he had many competitors. When Mother had been alive she had been able to sew beautiful cloths for high ranking people who paid us well.  
  
Today I was delivering silk from the far away Orient to the royal tailor. I liked silk; it was so smooth and had such pretty colors. This roll had cost a fortune but it would make enough profit to feed me and my father for several weeks.  
  
I was returning home with a sack full of gold, humming a song I'd heard somewhere. As I turned the corner onto the street where Father's shop is I saw a crowd gathering. That was either really good or really bad. If it was good Father's shop was doing a booming business, if it was bad... I quickened my pace.  
  
"What happened?" I asked a man standing near the back of the crowd.  
  
The man didn't even look at me when he replied. "Don't know, these men came in, they got into an argument with the shopkeeper and stabbing him. No one seems to know what the argument is about and the shopkeeper isn't telling."  
  
"He's still alive?" I asked breathlessly.  
  
"Yes, but he won't be for long."  
  
"Let me through!" I cried, pushing my way through the crowd. "He's my father, let me through!"  
  
People in the crowd parted for me and I was soon faced with the horrible reality. Father had a nasty stab wound in his chest, it was clear he wasn't going to survive. "Father, what happened?" I could hear my voice choking up, but I didn't care.  
  
"Baku, I'm glad... your safe." Father motioned for me to lean close to him, he whispered in my ear, so quietly I know no one could hear him except me. "Baku, you have to get away from here. There are some gangs that have started to recruit those who have the ability to play in the dark games. They force the people to play and then take the money they get for winning. I refused to tell them where you were so they decided to kill me, it all happened so quickly I didn't have time to defend myself." Father unhooked his belt knife and pushed it into my hands. It had a blade four inches long, Father had gotten it to intimidate thieves and to protect his family, a lot of good it had done him. "Take my knife and go. You can't depend on anyone anymore; anyone might want to use you to make money." He looked up at me and brushed the lock of silver that had fallen out of my hood. "I'm sorry.Baku." Father died, right there in front of me. I couldn't take it; I got up and ran away.  
  
Tears were running down my face as I ran down the dusty streets. I felt like crying, but my chest felt too tight to cry. Instead I ran. Why are things always this way for me? I have no one now. No one cares about an orphan with yokai blood. My mind flashed to Mother, her face worried as she examined a scrape on my knee, to father, his strong arms holding me as I cried for Mother. I collapsed on the ground and wept, and wished for all the world that there was someone to hold me and comfort me like Mother and Father had done.  
  
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I returned later, my skin smudged with dirt. I used the gold that I'd been carrying to pay for Father's funeral. I arranged for Father to be buried in the same mastaba that Mother was buried in. I didn't want them to be lonely in the afterlife. After that I went back home and gathered my things. I took a sack and stuffed it with food, a water skin and some clothing. I also put my favorite doll, Change of Heart into the sack. As I walked out the door I took one last look at the place that had been my home. I couldn't stay there, even if I wanted to with all the memories it held. My home had been in the merchant's district of town, because I had nothing to sell I could not afford to live there.  
  
For a while I wandered, looking for shelter and some way to earn a living. At that time I was not a thief, in fact my parents had taught me that stealing was wrong. At night I slept where I could find shelter, using my pack as a pillow. At night I pulled out Change of Heart. Its golden hair was from Mother, she had dyed it so it would be golden instead of silver. The cloth the doll was made out of was from Father's shop. The Change of Heart doll was all I had left of my parents now. I cried at night, thinking about the past that would never return. My heart hurt, it seemed like I had never truly known suffering until now.  
  
That was how he found me. I was looking for a place to sleep in one of the back alleys when I heard movement behind me.  
  
"So kid," I turned around to look at the speaker, a boy a few years older than me, "you an orphan?"  
  
"You could say that." I didn't particularly like this boy. He talked like someone who is tough; I knew if I answered yes I'd find no sympathy from him.  
  
"Hmm, one of those eh?" Well it's OK, you can come stay with us.  
  
"Who is 'us'?"  
  
"Oh, there's a whole bunch of us, none of us have parents so we help each other out. It's like having a whole lot of brothers."  
  
I knew what this was, it was a gang made of homeless children. If I had any choice I would have refused. Even without what my parents had taught me I had learned to mistrust pure blooded humans. I was hungry and tired and filthy after two weeks of street life, so I accepted. I was lead through the streets; I suspected my guide was taking me the long way to ensure I wouldn't be able to reveal the location of their hideout. I was introduced to a young man who the others called "Boss".  
  
"How long have you been on the streets boy?" Boss asked me.  
  
"About two weeks I guess."  
  
"No wonder you're filthy. Malik, help this boy get cleaned up."  
  
A boy stepped forward; he looked about thirteen, my age. "Come on, the bath is back here." Malik sounded tired, as if life had treated him even worse than it had treated me. I followed him into a little room where there was a small tub and some water. "Next time you take a bath you have to get the water from the river. This is just a perk for new members." Up close I saw that Malik had dark Egyptian skin, but that wasn't what was interesting, what interested me was his hair, it was blond, an even enough blond that I knew it hadn't been bleached by the sun.  
  
"You have blond hair."  
  
"Tell me about it. My hair's caused me nothing but trouble all my life. My parents abandoned me because they thought my hair was a bad omen. I grew up on the streets."  
  
"My hair's brought all my problems too."  
  
"Really?" He looked over at me. "You look perfectly normal to me."  
  
"That's because I'm dirty. My hair is pure white when it's clean, my skin's white too."  
  
Malik went over to the door and listened a moment, then came back. "You had better be quiet about that. Get cleaned up, then I'll figure out what to do with you."  
  
I washed up, I hadn't realized how dirty I'd gotten. I had been covered with so much dirt that my hair was a brownish color and my skin was almost dark enough to pass for normal Egyptian skin. I got out of the tub and took the cloths Malik handed me.  
  
"Well, you really do have white hair. Are you an albino or do you have yokai blood?"  
  
"My Mother was part yokai."  
  
"I see, well when the boss asks you that question answer that you don't know, say that the people who raised you weren't your parents."  
  
"But why?"  
  
"This is a harsh world...what did you say your name was?"  
  
"I didn't say, but it's Baku."  
  
"This is a harsh world Baku. I am a full human, but it didn't save me from being abandoned by my parents. Humans treat those with yokai blood badly, it's because they're afraid. If you're smart you'll hide the truth."  
  
I nodded and we went back into the main hideout.  
  
"Well, boy, it seems you have white hair," observed the boss. "Where do you get it?"  
  
"I don't know, I never knew my real parents."  
  
The boy who had picked me up on the street went over and whispered something into the boss's ear. The boss looked at me. I was very conscious that the eyes of all the boys in the hideout were on me. I didn't like the feeling, after years by myself I prefer to avoid attention.  
  
"Very well then, I shall choose to believe you. However, you cannot simply become a member of our little club because you were brought here. There must be a test, to make sure you are worthy."  
  
"What sort of test?"  
  
"Well, you've heard of the pyramids right?"  
  
"Yes, everyone has, they are where the pharaohs and high priests are buried."  
  
"Well, we just need you to go into one of those pyramids and get some treasure out of it. It's nothing much, we already dug a tunnel into the main passageway. You only have to go in, get some treasure from the crypt and come back, it's that simple."  
  
Malik looked like he was going to protest but the boss silenced him with a look.  
  
"Well, you had better get some sleep while you can, we leave at moonrise."  
  
Malik gestured for me to follow him to a corner. "This is usually where I sleep, but you can sleep here now. You'll get your own nest if you are confirmed as a member. Baku, I've got to warn you about something. That test isn't as innocent as the boss makes it sound, that pyramid has curses and traps all over it, no one that has entered has ever come out alive. Rumor has it they are all changed into gold figurines by some great curse."  
  
"Why would he send me there then?"  
  
"He suspects you have yokai blood. He has heard that someone who has yokai blood can avoid the curses and sense the traps. If you succeed he will send you down to collect more treasure, if you fail it will not worry him. Either way he does not loose."  
  
"What should I do?"  
  
"Just survive, if you can try to wait him out, get away. Other than that I don't have any advice."  
  
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Oooh, cliffhanger, at least I think it is.  
  
I decided to make Malik a character even though there is no evidence that he's reincarnated from anyone in Ancient Egypt. Of course Malik didn't have a millennium item until his current life so you never know... I guess I've made Yami Bakura suffer so much throughout the fic  
  
Yami Bakura: You certainly have.  
  
That I guess I just wanted him to have a friend. Nothing wrong with that is there?  
  
I guess you can probably guess what Baku finds in the pyramid.  
  
R&R please! Tell me what you think (but if you think the story is bad tell my why, don't just flame me). 


	4. Tomb Robber

OK, chapter 4. I should really be doing homework but it's sooo boring.  
  
Once again, I don't own Yu-gi-oh or any of the ideas in my fic that come from Inu-Yasha. I don't own Ancient Egypt or any of the treasure therein. Don't you just love the copy and paste option on the computer?  
  
Anyway last time Baku (Yami Bakura) got picked up by a gang of orphaned boys. As an initiation test they want young Baku to go into a pyramid and collect some of the treasure, there's only one problem; the pyramid is cursed and has a whole bunch of booby traps. How will Baku get out of this mess?  
  
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I didn't realize I'd dozed off but the next thing I knew Malik was shaking me and telling me it was time to get up. I followed the others out of the hideout, through twists and turns in the city and finally out into the desert. From there we walked, I don't know how long, until we were facing a large stone pyramid. I had never seen a pyramid before. Even though it was dark under the light of the quarter moon the pyramid gleamed like a piece of the moon that had fallen to earth. The only part of the pyramid that wasn't covered in white stone was a marking over the entrance, a golden eye. I didn't know why at the time but that eye gave me a sense of foreboding. I didn't want to go in there; unfortunately with some of the larger boys standing next to me I didn't have a choice.  
  
"Come here boy," the boss told me. I came over and looked expectantly at him, he handed me a bag with a drawstring, it was only big enough to hold one or two small pieces. "Your task is simple, bring back some loot in this bag, the drawstring is long enough so you can hang the bag around your neck." The boss nodded to one of the other boys and he came forward and offered me a lamp and a torch. "You'll need these to see in the dark, do you have a knife?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good, strike it against this stone to create sparks and light the torches." The boss offered me a white stone; it was scratched, as if it had already been used for the purpose of making fire. "Malik, take this boy to the tunnel."  
  
"Yes master," Malik grumbled. He led me toward the pyramid. We didn't go in through the entrance; we went a little way to the left of it. At first I didn't see anything strange, then I noticed that part of the stone wasn't stone at all; it was white cloth that concealed a hole in the pyramid wall. "That man's so arrogant, I can't stand him. I'd run away if I had any place to go. Mark my words Baku, someday I'm going to be called master, I won't be a worthless street boy forever." Malik turned and looked at me, his purple eyes serious. "Be careful in there Baku, so far no one has ever come out alive. If it looks like you might be killed, cursed or trapped if you go farther come back, I can distract the others long enough for you to get away. Good luck." Malik moved the rocks than anchored the sheet of cloth and revealed a tunnel that was big enough for me to crawl through.  
  
I lit the lamp and started crawling through the tunnel, pushing the lamp ahead of me. I had been crawling for about ten minutes when I came to an opening in the tunnel, peering out I saw hieroglyphics decorating the walls. I got out of the tunnel and held up the lamp. I was in a large chamber, probably an antechamber. To my left I could see an unbroken seal, probably leading to the surface, to my right I saw another seal; this one was broken and probably led to the main burial chamber of the tomb. I looked around curiously, holding my lamp up to look at the walls. I could only read a few words of the hieroglyphics, there was a name mentioned over and over again, which I couldn't read. As I looked over the symbols I was shocked to see the symbols for game, darkness and monster. Was this person involved in the dark games? I shook my head, my white hair whipping around my face. No, how could that be, this tomb was hundreds of years old, how could the dark games have gone on that long? Wait a moment, hadn't Mother told me that yokai and other monsters had only started coming to earth when the dark games had started? In that case the dark games had probably been going on for hundreds of years, maybe even a millennium.  
  
I looked over at another wall; it showed a man, probably the person buried in this tomb, surrounded by seven symbols; an inverted pyramid, a ring with a triangle in it, a necklace, a scepter, scales, an ankh, and a round ball. Beside each picture were hieroglyphs, probably telling the meaning of each of the symbols. I couldn't read them though. I looked around the picture at the hieroglyphs, there were the words for dark and game again, and another one, power. Then I had an idea, maybe the hieroglyphs said the items pictured would give the owner the power of the dark games.  
  
I moved to another panel, this one had a more detailed picture of one of the items, the ring with a triangle in the middle and chimes hanging from it. I looked at the picture and the hieroglyphs underneath; it said something about finding power and about a curse. I couldn't make out any more.  
  
I realized it was getting late and moved on to the main tomb. Cautiously I looked inside, the burial chamber was filled with gold and riches I examined the area that my lamp lit. There was an even coating of dust on everything. So the seal was broken but nothing had been touched, that was odd. I looked closer, there were some footprints in the dust coming from the antechamber where I had been but they stopped abruptly, there was no sign that the people who had made these footprints had turned around or even left the spot where the prints stopped. I shivered, was this the curse that Malik had mentioned? Suddenly something caught my eye at the spot where the footprints ended I saw a small shape on the ground. I wondered if the thief had tried to steal this and then been cursed and bent to examine it. As I got a good look at it I cried out in shock, this was no golden statue, instead it was a figure of a man, exact to the finest detail, including the shocked look on his face. I shivered involuntarily, so that was the curse, to be turned into a doll.  
  
I wanted to turn back, to escape back through the tunnel before the curse claimed me too, but I didn't. At the time I thought that it was because I was afraid to face the gang without some treasure, now I'm not so sure.  
  
I started into the tomb, senses strained for even the most insignificant change. It wasn't long before I found it. As I walked I felt a change in the air, almost imperceptible at first but growing steadily, all around me there was a feeling of power. I looked around instinctively for something to hide behind but saw nothing that I thought could protect me. The power had built to an unbearable level now and the world was starting to loose its color. My head was pounding and I stumbled over to a golden table and set my lamp down. I sunk to my knees, holding my head with my right hand and bracing myself against the table with my left hand.  
  
Darkness, everything was darkness. I was floating in the dark. "So this is what it's like, being a doll." I thought. "No." Panic, I was panicking, "This can't be how it ends." Around me the darkness was moving, I could see swirls of color, dark blues and purples, in what had been pitch black. "I WON'T END HERE!" I screamed. I'm not sure whether my body screamed too or whether it was just a scream in my mind. Around me the darkness shattered. I opened my eyes; I was back in my body, lying on the dust covered ground, breathing heavily, the lamplight flickering on the ceiling of the tomb.  
  
I got up, feeling sick, and looked around. Everything seemed the same; the treasures were piled against the walls of the tomb, reflecting the flickering lamplight. Gold, lapis, many other precious things, this was a thief's dream come true, except for the nightmare darkness. Now I realized that everything was not the same as it had been; the feeling of gathering power and darkness that had panicked me earlier was gone. I looked around and found a sarcophagus, made out of gold and inlayed with precious stones. The hands of the sarcophagus were holding what appeared to be a stone slab, made out of some shiny black rock, set into this slab was what appeared to be an amulet, a golden ring with a triangle inside it and five metal chimes hanging down from the ring.  
  
I walked over to the sarcophagus and stretched out my right hand, gingerly touching the ring. Was it my imagination or did I hear the sound of chimes? No, it couldn't be, the thing was set into the stone, it couldn't move. I'm not sure why but I felt strangely attracted to the ring. I took another step forward and tried to pull the ring from the stone it was set into. To my surprise the ring came free easily, jangling in my hand. I had only a moment to examine my prize before a trap door opened up in the floor beneath me and I plummeted into the darkness.  
  
**********************************************  
  
Oooh, another cliffhanger, I think I'm getting the hang of these things.  
  
Yami Bakura comes up and looks over what Yami Neko has written. "Not bad, but you should have me grabbing something else too.  
  
Yami Neko: You mean you'd rather have gold and jewels than the ring?  
  
Yami Bakura: That's not what I mean and you know it. I just think I'm a bit of a small timer in this story.  
  
Yami Neko: (smiles sweetly) Would you rather I re-wrote it so you are lost in darkness forever?  
  
Yami Bakura: Never mind.  
  
Yami Neko: Good, never mess with the author. R&R please. 


	5. Out of the tomb

Oh, I got reviewed, I'm so happy! I've only gotten two so far but thanks to StarStruck and Black K for reviewing me.  
  
OK, I just saw a fanart of what I think is probably Yami Bakura as he existed back in ancient Egypt, so I'll be gradually changing my Yami Bakura to resemble it. It's from a Japanese fanart page and (I hope) is based on what Yami Bakura looks like in the manga when he returns (he got defeated by Yami Malik in a dark game, sniff, Bakura is dead in Japan). Anyway if you guys want to see it it's at http://www.ne.jp/asahi/bokura/kukuretai/omoma-plan/plan/plan7-3.htm (while you're there look around, the site has a lot of yaoi fanart but if you don't mind that it's got some great stuff).  
  
Sorry I haven't written in so long, partly it was from lack of reviews and partly from an overabundance of school work. Also I wanted to work on Kit's character before she really appears (she won't appear for at least a chapter or two though; I'm hoping she won't turn into a bad Mary Sue type character). Hopefully I'll update more after this.  
  
Oh, right, evil disclaimer time. I don't own the rights to Yu-gi-oh. I didn't think up the idea of yokai but it is in a few Japanese things besides Inu-yasha. I don't own anything related to Egypt and I take no responsibility if any of the information presented in this fanfic on the subject is wrong.  
  
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Yami Bakura:  
  
I groaned as I woke up. Darkness all around me, that's right, I remembered now, I'd fallen down a trap door in the tomb. I cursed, my first job as a thief and I hadn't even gotten anything. Wait, I felt around until my hand hit something that jingled, yes I still had the ring, a lot of good it did me though.  
  
I reached around my neck, the bag was torn and the flint had fallen out, I felt around until I felt something that was the right size and shape and took out my knife and torch. I struck the knife against the rock and was relieved to see sparks, quickly I lit my torch. I sighed, looking around the room, so there was a way out, or at least a door.  
  
Just then I noticed some wetness on my right cheek, I reached up to feel my cheek and when I brought my hand back down the tips of my fingers were covered in blood. I had felt two or three gashes in my cheek, big ones, they would leave scars. My white Egyptian cloths were torn and dirty from the fall, my long white hair was a mess and I was dirty all over. My arms and legs also had a few scrapes, but nothing major; I wondered what I could have hit on the way down that would have caused the cuts on my cheek. I sucked my bloody fingers pensively as I wondered what to do.  
  
I looked down at the floor, there was the ring where it had fallen, and its chimes lay at odd angles. I couldn't carry it in the bag, that had a hole big enough for the ring to slip through. The drawstring was OK, I could string it through the little loop at the top of the ring and wear it around my neck. It would look more conspicuous coming out of the tomb but I decided it didn't matter. I took off the bag and took out the drawstring; I thought about tossing the now useless bag aside but decided I could use it to staunch the bleeding on my cheek. I picked up the ring and carefully looped the drawstring through the little loop at the top, looking at it now I realized it was meant to be worn on a cord around someone's neck. Carefully I tied the string and slipped it around my neck. For a second I felt weird, as if I was filled with power, I wouldn't have been surprised if someone said I glowed for a moment, I'm pretty sure the ring did. The sensation faded quickly but I could still feel something in the back of my mind, a sense of power that I had never felt before.  
  
I walked quickly toward the doorway and into a passage. It was leading upward, probably a tunnel used to dig this chamber, if I knew anything about pyramids there would be more traps or at least a maze. Something worried me though; why hadn't the tunnel been sealed when the chamber was completed? Something was wrong; it was almost as if the designer of this trap wanted the prey to escape.  
  
Soon I realized this would not be as easy as I had hoped, the passageway branched in three directions. I raised my torch a little and looked down each, I couldn't see very far but I could see far enough to know that these passages also branched out. If I wasn't careful I could easily fall into another trap, this time I would probably die. Which way, I tried to close my eyes, I knew that whichever the true way was it would lead to the surface, maybe if I could find the direction that the fresh air was coming from I could find my way out. Nothing, no difference, I was so deep in the tomb that fresh air probably hadn't been down here in centuries. I had to find my way out, if I didn't die of starvation or thirst I would die from the stale air. I needed a way out, more than anything I needed a way out.  
  
Suddenly something caught my attention, from my chest the millennium ring was glowing, two of the chimes had moved and were pointing toward the left passageway. The guidance of a magical item is better than no guidance at all, I went left. A few turns later and I was holding the ring in my hands. I had discovered that if I concentrated on the fact that I wanted a way out the ring would point toward one of many passages. I also realized that if I tried turning the ring so the points pointed in another direction they would drop and another one of the spikes would lift up to point at the same doorway. Interesting, so the millennium ring pointed in the direction of what I wanted to find. As I used it I became familiar with the feeling of using it, I knew the ring would not lead me wrong and I began to run in the direction the millennium ring pointed. As the passages progressed there were fewer side passages, obviously the others had been meant to trap thieves trapped in the trap.  
  
I chuckled; the designer obviously didn't know the value of my ring. It was mine now, I could feel that it was. It had chosen me; it was more a part of me now than my body was. The ring was mine, it would always be mine.  
  
I came to the end of the passage and found a trap door. Carefully I opened it and found that I was back in the treasure room, under a magnificent golden table. Well, I was here, I didn't have a sack anymore but that didn't mean I couldn't take as much loot as I could carry. Now I wouldn't even need to worry about going back through that little tunnel, the ring would get me out of this tomb without setting off any traps.  
  
I looked around, and quickly settled on some gold jewelry including some necklaces, some bracelets, and some wrist and ankle bands that I could just wear out of the tomb. I looked around also picked up a long gold staff inlaid with lapis lazuli.  
  
I decided it was time to leave, I couldn't really carry a lot of goods without a sack anyway. I wasn't worried, the curse would frighten my rivals away, and I was the only one who knew it was broken. On my way out I caught sight of a red and white cloak made of expensive cotton. Why not? It looked like my size and anyway the mummy didn't need it.  
  
I walked jauntily out of the tomb. I paused at the tunnel. If I left through the main door it might make other thieves suspect that the curse was gone, on the other hand, if I left through the tunnel my "friends" would see how much I had gotten and try to take it from me. After all the trouble I had getting the ring I was definitely keeping it, and after that curse and trap I thought I deserved a little extra. Those cowards outside didn't deserve anything, I had done all the work, I had almost gotten turned into a doll, I was the one with two large cuts on my cheek, what had the others done to deserve even a gem of the pyramid's treasure.  
  
I decided not to show off too much of my newfound power and take the thieves' tunnel. If any of my "friends" gave me trouble, well, I could test the power of the ring on them.  
  
...................................  
  
Malik:  
  
Baku had been gone a long time. The others had left about an hour ago, they had told me to watch the tunnel in case Baku tried to escape. I was hot and sweaty under the desert sun and my precious water skin was beginning to run low. If Baku didn't return soon I would have to head back to town or risk heat stroke.  
  
"Damn, where has that Baku gone to? If the boss catches me in town without him I'll get punished. I hope he's not dead."  
  
Before I could finish my sentence I saw the cloth shift and Baku started to emerge.  
  
"There you are! I was worried, I thought something had happened to you."  
  
"No, just had to get out of a trap or two." He said it so casually, as if he had been a great thief all his life, not some street kid that had been picked up earlier today.  
  
"Wow, you've got a great haul! Come on, the boss will be pleased." I tried to pull him toward town. When he didn't budge I asked "What's wrong?"  
  
"I'm not going back with you. I'm not in your gang, if anything you should be my lackeys, but I don't need lackeys, I don't need anyone." He paused and looked me strait in the eyes, for the first time I noticed the gashes on his right cheek. "If your boss wants treasure he can go into the tomb and get it himself. I'm a thief now, and I'm going to be the greatest tomb robber in Egypt, I don't need your help or your gang."  
  
He broke away from me and started running across the desert. He was fast, surprisingly so, I couldn't catch up.  
  
"Baku come back here! Baku!" It was too late, he was out of earshot. "Damn, I could have used him." I had planned to use the rumor that Baku had yokai blood and was powerful to gain leadership of the gang, perhaps someday become pharaoh.  
  
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I noticed that the link buttons don't take you to the index of the Japanese fanart page so here is the address for the index page: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/bokura/kukuretai/index.html Once again this site has a lot of yaoi/shonen ai content so if you are uncomfortable looking at that you should avoid it. However if you aren't uncomfortable my only suggestion is to try everything. 


	6. Night Encounter

Hi everyone, we get another glimpse of Kit this chapter, but we won't actually meet her until next chapter.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh. I do own Kit. I did not invent yokai.  
  
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Yami Bakura:  
  
Time passed, and I became a very successful thief. The three cuts on my right cheek had healed but had left long brown scars. They were the only thing now that could identify me. I had gotten a hat that conceiled my white hair, most people that saw me thought I was one of the Egyptians that shave their heads. I let them believe that, the people I dealt with were comfortable dealing with a thief, I doubted they would be comfortable dealing with a yokai. I didn't go to rob the great tombs every day. Even with the ring to break all the curses it is dangerous. The people who guard the tombs for the pharaoh do not take kindly to robbers and will go into town to check up on people who have suddenly become wealthy. Another robber got caught because he sold too big a haul too fast and became conspicuously wealthy within a couple weeks. After it was found out that he was a tomb robber his hands and head were cut off. I can't say I'm sorry though; he had an annoying tendency to go into the tombs I'd removed curses from and steal the stuff I was going to steal later. Unlike him I was careful; I wasn't going to get caught.  
  
When I wasn't stealing from tombs I was stalking the streets of our town (actually it was a city back then, but it is nothing compared to modern cities). The shops are closed during the hottest hours of the day, however that means they are open into the early evening, a perfect time to grab things. I didn't grab much, mostly the occasional food. The punishment for stealing is to have your hands cut off, however a petty thief that steals only bread and a few trinkets from venders would never be suspected as a great tomb robber.  
  
I came to love the night. It was at night that I could remove the cloth covering my head and walk around without people staring. I felt so much freer at night, I can't really explain why, except that there was no one to see me and I didn't have to hide. I didn't steal anything, for one thing everything was packed away and taken inside after full dark had fallen. More importantly though the night wasn't for stealing, it was for prowling the city streets learning new shortcuts. There were a few other thieves that came out at night, they never bothered me though, the ring saw to that. It was that night that I met her, that I met kit. I was walking along minding my own business and suddenly this priestess grabs me. I spun around, the ring was concealed (even though I didn't exactly have a shirt to conceal it under then I could hide it magically) but I was prepared to use it, if my attacker had had a knife she would have been a doll before she could react.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said it as if she was sorry I wasn't someone else. "You had white hair so I though you were this girl we're looking for. She escaped today, I have no idea how she managed it, she was at the temple last night and this morning she was gone." She looked at me, trying to asses me. "If you help us find her we will be sure to reward you. I assume that you probably know this city very well, perhaps you could help me find her."  
  
I must admit I don't like being touched without permission and I didn't feel like helping this priestess. "First of all who is this 'she' you keep referring two, second of all why should I help you find her. If you are going to say 'for the money' than you should know I don't need your money."  
  
"She is the living incarnation of the goddess Bastet. We at the temple of Bastet have been serving her for many years and she has blessed all comers with good fortune and healthy families. You wouldn't be able to miss her, she is a human with a cat's head and tail, she has white hair with gray stripes. Please, we must find her, if The Living Bastet is not in our temple misfortune will befall us."  
  
"And I suppose she answers to the name of The Living Bastet or Bastet?"  
  
"She did at the temple, but the priestesses that actually served her said that she often insisted on being called Kit."  
  
"Fine, I'll keep an eye out for this Kit of yours."  
  
"Oh thank you sir, we are most grateful."  
  
She departed, finally. I turned around and chuckled, "Of course I never promised I'd do anything if I found her."  
  
**************************************************************************** *****  
  
Sort of a cliffhanger, for those of you have read/watched Inu-Yasha you can probably guess what Kit is, for the rest of you I won't spoil it.  
  
Sorry the chapter was kind of short, I just realized that would be a good place to end it. According to my original plan it would have gone on longer and Yami Bakura would have actually met Kit, but this way it leaves you wondering if Kit is actually a goddess like the priestess says she is.  
  
FYI: Bastet really is a goddess of ancient Egypt. She does have a cat's/lion's head (but no tail). Bastet is said to have both a gentle and aggressive nature. She is gentle because she protects women, children and the home. Her aggressive side is shown by how merciless she is when fighting enemies, she is also said to be Ra's instrument of vengeance. Like Ra she is associated with fire, either the tame hearth fire or the blazing inferno. When visiting earth Bastet was said to take the form of a cat, part of the reason cats were sacred in ancient Egypt. 


	7. Meeting Kit

Hi everyone, well this is the chapter where Kit actually shows up (but she won't become a major character until the next chapter). Anyway Kit probably won't end up pairing up with any of the characters. She will be Yami Bakura and Bakura's friend and maybe friends with some of the others, I don't know yet, I never plan ahead in stories I just let them come out.  
  
Disclaimer (again): I don't own Yu-gi-oh or Inu-Yasha. I do own Kit, she is mine and I'm keeping her.  
  
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Yami Bakura  
  
After my encounter with the priestess I decided to head back home, who knew how many of them were roaming the streets looking for Kit. My house is on the edge of town. It isn't much, getting a large house near the river would have attracted some attention. It was on the edge of town, I liked it that way, it meant I could slip in and out of town to raid a tomb without being noticed. On the outside my house looks small and drab, it's easily overlooked, I keep it like that on purpose. On the inside though it is furnished with pillows and other decorations, one or two of which I kept from one of the royal tombs.  
  
I entered, carefully closing the door behind me. Just then I thought I heard movement in my house. I grabbed a lamp and began advancing toward the source of the sound. Everything seemed quiet, but I trusted my hearing. I must have surprised an unexpected guest, well I would show them whose territory this was.  
  
"Who's there," I called. "Come out and I'll go easy on you."  
  
"Don't come any closer." The voice coming out of the darkness was small and a little high pitched, a female voice, a little like a cat's voice, a little like my hikari's voice. "I didn't know this place was occupied. Let me leave and nothing will happen."  
  
"You're new around here aren't you?" Silence answered my question but I could hear my guest moving around. "You wouldn't happen to be Kit would you?"  
  
A squeak answered this question. "Who told you that I might be Kit?"  
  
"Oh, a priestess, she seemed to think you were important enough to pay to get back. At least that is if you are Kit."  
  
Silence for a moment, then, "Yes, I'm Kit, at lest you have the decency to call me by my real name." She paused for a moment and I heard her come closer, until her form was illuminated by a beam of light from a window. In the darkness she was a silver shadow, one that looked almost human, except for a rather obvious pair of large cat-like ears on her head. "You have a lamp, I can see you well enough but I guess you can't see me very well. You might as well light it; it wouldn't be a fair fight otherwise."  
  
I lit the lamp, as light flared I saw the girl around my age, unmistakably Kit. She was crouched six feet away, ready to spring in any direction. Her eyes were green, for a second as the light flared they looked normal otherwise, with large round pupils, however the pupils quickly changed from almost round to catlike slits. Her hair was long, like mine but instead of pure white it was white with stripes of gray, the two large cat ears sticking out of the top of her head were gray. She wore strange cloths, what I would now call a sleeveless shirt and loose fitting pants; she also wore a necklace made of gold and with inscriptions on it. Her bare arms and face were covered by white and gray striped fur and a set of bristling white cat whiskers stuck out just below her nose. Although her body looked human I couldn't help but notice that her face was completely that of a cat, I could understand why she could be mistaken for Bastet. A long furry tail was curled around her and lay twitching anxiously on the floor. Another thing I noticed, each of her fingers ended in a long, silver, claw- like nail, this girl could fight. It worried me a little but I shrugged it off, I could easily seal her with the ring if she tried anything.  
  
She blinked at me, curiously. She didn't seem to be examining me as I had examined her but I remembered those eyes, she had probably seen all she needed to even in the near dark of my house. "I suppose you want the reward for my capture." As she spoke I caught a glimpse of sharp teeth.  
  
"Na, I've got enough money, look around and see for yourself."  
  
Kit looked around, one ear swiveling to keep track of me. "You seem to be rich, why do you live here?"  
  
"If I tell you will you keep quiet?"  
  
"I'll do anything if I don't have to go back to that temple. Well," she paused, looking at me, "almost anything. I can keep a secret though, mostly because it probably doesn't concern me."  
  
"I'm a tomb robber."  
  
Kit blinked, as if this was unexpected. "Don't they put all sorts of curses on those tombs?" Kit's ears perked, she was interested now.  
  
"Yes, but," I chuckled, "curses are no barrier to me." I was showing off and both of us knew it. She knew I could see her weapons; I was going to show her I wasn't powerless.  
  
"How? How do you break curses? Could you," She trailed off, torn between a desperate need to know and fear. "Could you show me? I mean could you show me what you use to break curses?"  
  
"It's secret. If I showed you you would have to die."  
  
"Please, I'll give you my gold necklace if you show me."  
  
"I said I'm a tomb robber, do you think I need one gold necklace?"  
  
"But, please... I really need to know." She reached up to touch the necklace. Everything happened in an instant, she touched it, actually she tugged on it, the ring reacted and I suddenly knew; the necklace was magic."  
  
Kit stared in aw at the now visible ring. "That's a millennium item. How'd you get one of those?"  
  
"From a tomb," Kit stared in surprise. "What? I said I'm a tomb robber."  
  
"But those things are magical; they don't just let anyone own them. You're special. Oh, anyway, could you use your millennium item to take off my necklace? I'd love to get rid of it."  
  
"Promise not to attack me?"  
  
"You have a millennium item, magic beats claws any day. Just let me leave afterward."  
  
I nodded and reached for the power of my ring. Deftly I reached out and severed the magic binding the necklace to Kit. "OK, take it off."  
  
Kit reached up and snatched the necklace off her neck tossing it on the floor several feet away. "It's off, it's really off! Oh thank you sir."  
  
"It was nothing, just leave." Kit darted out of the house past me and into the night. Just outside the door she paused and looked back.  
  
"Say, what's your name anyway?"  
  
"It's Baku."  
  
"Well Baku, I owe you a big favor, I'll hang around in this city until I can repay it." With that she leapt away into the night.  
  
I went back inside and looked down at the necklace. It had a powerful binding and subduing spell on it. I had broken the spells that bound it to Kit, but the binding spells were still there, if anyone put the necklace on they would be bound by it just as Kit had been. I wondered how much I could sell it for.  
  
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Yes, I know Kit's description is a bit long, but it's the only one you'll get so I wanted it to be complete. I promise, except for mentioning things related to her mood you will not hear another thing about Kit's appearance.  
  
For those who have read Inu-Yasha you can probably guess the necklace Kit had on was an Egyptian version of the rosary Inu-Yasha wears and acts in a very similar way. It was a big enough inconvenience that Kit could be held at the temple by the human priestesses. 


	8. Kit's debt

OK. I said earlier that Bakura is dead in Japan. That's only in the anime, in the manga he is very much alive. As a Bakura fangirl I'm happy because I hate seeing characters I like get killed, as a writer I'm happy because it gives me more room to write and still stay within the original story.  
  
Things I do not own: Yu-gi-oh, Inu-yasha. Things I do own: Kit, I designed her, I got some inspiration from Inu-yasha but no one helped me design her. For those who don't know a hanyou is half yokai (demon), half something else (in Inu-yasha's case it's half human, half yokai).  
  
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Kit  
  
The night wind blew through my hair as I sat atop one of the pyramids. I would sleep here tonight, humans would not disturb the crypt. The curses that protected the pharaoh that slept in this place had been broken, probably by that young man, Baku, who helped me. My tail twitched in irritation, I owed him and I'd been taught always to repay my debts, however I needed to get as far away from the temple as fast as I could. Just because that accursed necklace was gone didn't mean I couldn't get caught, it just meant I would have to be unlucky and let my guard down. I wouldn't go back, I just wouldn't, and those priestesses could find some other poor fool to be their goddess.  
  
How did Baku get a millennium item anyway? Those things were dangerous, especially for yokai. I remembered learning about them. Baku's millennium item could break spells, I tried to think but I couldn't remember which one was like that. There was one power that every item shared, the ability to control monsters and seal them into stone tablets. Every yokai was taught to fear the millennium items from birth.  
  
I reached in under my shirt and drew out a small pendant, it was a golden colored bipyramidal crystal. "Papa."  
  
..............................  
  
Flashback of Kit  
  
I was still young at the time, barely three feet tall. I had been crying in the back of my house, the young yokai had been teasing me again. Our house was made from mud mixed with a glassy substance, the work of demon wasps trained for that purpose.  
  
"Khiti."  
  
I looked up to see a man, my father. He was Egyptian with black hair and dark skin. "Why don't you call me Kit like everyone else?"  
  
"Kit's not a proper name, it's just these creatures word for kid. I don't want you treated like that."  
  
"Why? I'm a hanyou, no one else seems to care about my feelings; not even Mama."  
  
"Even if you are half demon you are still my daughter. I want more for you than to be the village trash." He reached into a pouch around his neck and took out a small golden crystal pendant on a piece of braided string. "Hold out your hands."  
  
I did so and he put the crystal into my open palms. "What is it?"  
  
"You've heard of the millennium items haven't you Khiti?"  
  
"Those are the evil things that trap yokai! Of course I've heard of them."  
  
"I suppose to a demon it would be evil. This crystal was one of a few left over when the millennium items were made." He must have noticed me looking at the crystal as if it would bite me and hurried to say, "Don't worry Khiti, it doesn't have more than a grain of magic power, but it will help you focus your own magic."  
  
"I can't do magic, I've tried." Papa was a sorcerer, one who had worked to control the population of monsters. I have no idea how Mama got him to marry her, perhaps I'm better off not knowing.  
  
"You're my daughter and as my daughter you have magic, that crystal will help you find it. I know those others say a hanyou can never be as strong as a full yokai, but I've heard that magic beats physical strength every time."  
  
..............................  
  
Yami Bakura  
  
For several days after I met Kit nothing happened. I went about my usual routine, going through town, occasionally stealing something of little value. One night I went to raid one of the tombs I had removed the curse on. I was quite surprised to find that someone had been there since I had and yet had stolen nothing. I shrugged, probably someone had come in and been scared away by the curse, didn't matter, none of my treasure was stolen.  
  
The next day I went through town to one of my favorite pawn shops. The owner and I have an agreement, I'll bring in any treasure from the pyramids, he'll buy it for something like half of what it's actually worth, and he won't say anything about where he got it. It's amazing how cooperative people can be when there is money involved, almost as cooperative as they can be when their life is involved.  
  
As I came out of the shop I heard someone come up behind me. I didn't think anything of it, even in the day there are thieves that stalk the pawn shop. If these guys were trying to sneak up on me they were new in town, everyone else knew to avoid me. "Hold it right there, you," said a man behind me.  
  
"And what if I don't?" I asked, turning around to give my would-be attacker my most scathing look. I stopped, this was no ordinary group of street thugs, this was a man in an odd uniform and some of the pharaoh's own guards. Had they found out about me? I was in for it now.  
  
"Baku, you have been seen robbing the graves of the pharaohs buried out in the desert."  
  
"Yes, I'm a tomb robber," I replied. No use lying, they obviously knew enough and anyway I didn't expect them to give me a fair chance to defend myself even if I had been innocent. "But tell me, we have never met and yet you know my name. How?"  
  
A young man came out from behind the guards, he was about my age, dark skinned with blond hair and violet eyes.  
  
"Malik?" I couldn't believe it, the young street rat was hanging out with the pharaoh's guards?  
  
"Yes, Malik. I told you I would be powerful one day, and look at me. I'm one of those charged with guarding the graves from robbers like you." There was a mischievous glint in his eyes, I doubted that his only motive was a sense of honor.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"I want you to pay for all that you have done." He came up close to me. "I don't know if you knew but after you got away the boss kicked me out of the gang and blacklisted me. I was lucky to be taken in by this guy called Shadi and trained to an honest job like being a gravekeeper."  
  
"I see." I turned and ran, there was no more to say to my old "friend" Malik or any of the guards. I just ran. Damn, they were fast, I could stay ahead of them but unless I found a series of turns or a large crowd I would have no hope of loosing them. The crowds had all dispersed, it was almost noon and everyone had gotten undercover from the hot desert sun. I'm one of those people that never gets hot, maybe my yokai blood, maybe not. That gave me one additional hope; that my pursuers would have to stop and rest before I did.  
  
Some of the guards dropped back, not enough. Thanks to the ring I could sense that one of my pursuers had a millennium item. If I hadn't known that I would never have run, I would have used my ring to stop them, however I didn't know enough about it yet to feel confident fighting another item holder. I spotted something in the distance, the pure white shapes of the pyramids rising out of the sand dunes. I hadn't intended to come here but I knew these tombs better than anyone alive, I would be safe there.  
  
"Baku!" Kit was suddenly there beside me. I had just passed an outcropping of rock and trees, an oasis, she must have been staying there. Kit stopped running and turned around to look at the pharaoh's guards. "This boy's with me, turn around now and no one will get hurt." She was looking over the crowed and flexing her claws absentmindedly.  
  
"Kit, one of them has a millennium item." I had stopped running, partly to catch my breath, although I wasn't as exhausted as my pursuers, but mostly to watch.  
  
"What!" Kit fuzzed up and I almost laughed, a scared cat is comical and a scared cat girl with her normally flat white hair flaring in all directions is even more so.  
  
Out of the crowd stepped a man, he looked like any other Egyptian with a beard, however his left eye had been replaced by an eye made of gold, the millennium eye. "So, not only do we catch a grave robber but also a monster." Kit's ears went back and she took a crouching pose. "The pharaoh will be pleased, he doesn't like monsters running wild and attacking people, even more than he doesn't like tomb robbers."  
  
Kit put her left hand out and muttered something; a light appeared in front of her and took the form of a gray cat with a long purplish tail. "Let's go," she shouted and grabbed my arm as she sped off toward the pyramids. "You might as well hold on, to me, I can run faster than any human and I don't know about you but I don't want those guys back there to catch up to us."  
  
I agreed and put my arms around her neck. Normally I don't like being carried or helped. I like being able to rely on myself, but Kit was right, I didn't want to get caught and I could stand one indignity.  
  
We reached the pyramid and I let go of Kit. "I hope I don't have to do that again, I'm no camel," she started for the opening. I recognized this pyramid as the one where my life had changed, the one that held the ring. "Might as well stay here until they forget about us, then I'm leaving, I've repaid my debt." She turned and looked at me. "You can stay here too, if you want. I'll teach you how to summon if you don't know already." She shrugged and walked away, an action that I interpreted as "do what you want, I don't care."  
  
"Thanks, I'd be happy to learn, not that I wouldn't have figured it out myself."  
  
Ten minutes later we were inside a room I had seen on my third visit to this tomb, it was filled with stone tablets depicting monsters. I always got a feeling from this room of power being sealed away. "These are monsters whose souls and power have been sealed into these tablets," Kit told me sadly. "What have you already learned to do with your ring?"  
  
"I know how to seal people's souls into dolls, I can break curses and sense magic. The ring points to things I want to find too."  
  
Kit nodded but moved a bit farther away from me. "If you can seal things summoning will be easy. Just sort of reach into the stone and call out the spirit sleeping inside." I must have looked a little puzzled and she sighed, "I can't show you on these ones, they're all too strong for me to control. In a dark game the power would come to you naturally but in this world... you just have to figure it out."  
  
"What about that monster you summoned earlier? Couldn't you just summon that one again? Why do we even need these stones?"  
  
"The stones are the things that the monsters are actually sealed in so it's easier to call monsters directly from the stones. The monster I called earlier was special. You see every duelist has a favorite monster, one which they resonate with perfectly, a duelist can always call that monster no matter what the situation. My creature is Little Chimera, a cat-like monster, just like me. I can't tell you what your creature will be, only that you will know it when you see it."  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Good place to stop, naturally I'm only on a roll when there is a good place to stop. This chapter was a bit awkward and I may revise it later. Hope you guys don't mind too much having some things from Kit's point of view, I'm trying to keep the point of view to the Yu-gi-oh characters but it's hard sometimes. I think part of what I'm trying to do with Kit is write about the dark games with the point of view of monsters instead of just humans. I'm not sure if that's how the story will turn out but it might go that way. 


	9. Darkworld Legend

Konnichiwa everyone (did I spell that right?), I'm glad everyone likes Kit and my story so far.  
  
This chapter was a good lesson for me, I wanted it to go one way but the darn thing has a mind of its own and went a completely different way. I'd better try to follow the story as it develops instead of trying to control it too much.  
  
Once again I don't own Yu-gi-oh. Some things that inspired parts of this story that I don't own are Inu-Yasha and Dragon Warrior.  
  
For many of the main characters I'll probably use the names they had in the English playstation game (even though I don't own a PS or PS2 and got all the names out of a magazine) because they're the closest thing to official that I can find.  
  
Oh right, little bit of profanity, but I guess this already got a PG rating and I don't really consider the one or two potentially offensive words to be worth a higher rating (but then I'm not religious so I wouldn't).  
  
**************************************************************************** *************  
  
Yami Bakura  
  
"OK." I closed my eyes and concentrated on a tablet that held the form of a small dragon. I felt the spirit start to stir as I reached for it. I opened my eyes to see what was happening and was just in time to see the glow of the stone fade.  
  
"Not bad for a first try, it took me several tries to get that far. Once you have the spirit's attention you just have to tell it to come out. Why don't you try calling the first one in defense mode, just to be on the safe side." Kit looked a little nervous and I realized her posture had changed from fairly relaxed to ready for battle. I wondered how many of these monsters Kit had had to fight because she couldn't control them. "Oh, right, almost forgot, it helps to call them by name. If you know the name of a monster than it is more likely to obey you than if you just say something like 'hey you, come out'. That's a Devil Dragon by the way."  
  
"OK." I concentrated on the tablet again and felt the spirit notice me. "Come out, Devil Dragon, and assume a defensive pose." I might have felt foolish if I hadn't seen Kit call a monster earlier and hadn't felt the presence inside the tablet. I opened my eyes and saw before me a purple dragon, only about the size of a camel, but very fierce looking. Its eyes were focused on Kit but I could tell part of its attention was on me, waiting for my commands.  
  
Kit edged closer to me and I noticed the dragon turn and move between her and me. She stopped and started to move back and it followed her every movement. "It thinks I'm your opponent, or maybe one of your opponent's monsters. It's trying to block me from attacking you directly."  
  
"What do I do with it now?"  
  
"Well, we've got to get rid of it before this actually turns into a fight. I know, I surrender, you're too strong." The dragon blinked and vanished back into its tablet. Kit sighed. "If this had been a real duel whatever penalty we had set up beforehand would have taken effect. In the fights I've seen before between a yokai and a human the punishment for loosing is to be sealed into a stone tablet. My mother died like that. Between two humans usually there isn't a major penalty, however you must remember this: every time a dark game is initiated a price of life must be paid. From what I've heard often slaves or criminals are brought to be sacrificed to the dark games, however sometimes it is the loosing duelist that is sacrificed." Kit sighed and stared at the stones, sleeping silently in the tomb where the ring had slept for centuries. "You should practice some more, but I won't be here to watch you, I don't really want to be a practice target. When you feel confident calling low level monsters try calling that one," Kit pointed to an image of a bug-like creature that had a body like a troll. "That's the King of Yamimakai, to call it you must sacrifice one monster that you have already called."  
  
Kit left the room and I tried to call the monsters again, but they didn't come out. I walked into the main tomb and found Kit snooping around my treasure. "Kit!"  
  
"Eep! Oh, sorry, you startled me. What do you want?"  
  
"The monsters won't come out."  
  
Kit sighed, "I was afraid of that, they don't see the point of coming out since you don't have an opponent. Usually captured monsters are less difficult, at least as long as you are a higher level than them, but I guess these guys don't recognize you as their master so they won't obey commands that don't make sense. Don't worry, they'll learn. I guess I'll have to help you practice until then." We went back into the room where the monsters were and I called the Devil Dragon again. "OK, I won't be able to summon any monsters, although I can still use spells." Kit muttered something under her breath and a mark appeared on the floor in front of her. "Prepared one spell, I'll end my turn. To call out a higher level monster name the sacrificial monster or monsters in addition to the monster you are calling. Just try not to attack me OK?"  
  
"It's my turn. I'll offer Devil Dragon as a sacrifice and summon King of Yamimakai." I watched as the devil dragon vanished into a cloud of darkness which materialized into a monster that looked like a cross between a giant Hercules Beetle and an ogre, at least that's what my host thinks it looks like. It was so much bigger than Kit and I could tell she knew it, that she might as well be its prey. She looked confident, I wondered why. If I had faced that monster with no magic protecting me I wouldn't have looked half so confident, but then again she did have magic protecting her. Suddenly without being told my monster attacked.  
  
As it rushed at her Kit raised her left arm. "Activate trap, Mirror Force." A field surrounded Kit and reflected my monster's attack, destroying it. "OK, I give. Why in all the hells did you attack me?"  
  
I shrugged. "You didn't seem afraid; I figured whatever spell you prepared had to be pretty good."  
  
Kit sighed, "That was Mirror Force, I put it there in case something went wrong. I suppose I should teach you how to use spells. That was a trap type spell, meaning you must have it prepared and on the field for a little while before you can use it. Ordinary spells can just be launched at any time. However using magic takes a certain amount of power, the more powerful the spell the more power it takes, Mirror Force for example takes quite a bit of magic so there is a rule about only using it once during a duel, to make it more fair to people like me who don't have unlimited magic, same thing goes for Raise Dead. Some spells, like Fireball, cost so little energy you can afford to use them many times, but according to the rules you may only use most spells a maximum of three times. The Usually you can only have five active spells at once, that's another handicap, since the number of spells you can maintain at once depends on your concentration, I can maintain three but I get a little dizzy, your ring would help you maintain more than a normal human could." Kit looked around and walked over to a niche cut into the wall. "Aha, I knew these had to be somewhere." Kit came over and unrolled a papyrus scroll. "Can you read hieratic?"  
  
"Not really, I can read a few hieroglyphics but that's about it."  
  
"That's a problem, you need to be able to read the spells. I guess until you learn to read and write you should try memorizing one or two, you'll need to have them memorized anyway for dueling."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Another rule, your monsters are limited both by your level as a duelist and by the amount of space you have, those stones are pretty big. The amount of magic and traps you have are limited both by your magic power and by how many spells you can memorize. I try to keep a couple good spells memorized. Mirror Force is a good spell, but I had looked it up before the battle, normally I don't memorize traps. This one's my favorite," Kit took a smaller roll out of a bag she had and showed me a spell with a picture of fireballs beside it. "That's Fireball. It's your basic destroy anything, anywhere, anytime spell, so it suits my purposes."  
  
"Hey, isn't that Change of Heart?" I pointed to a spell in the tomb's scroll with a picture of a woman with one bird wing and one bat wing holding a heart.  
  
"So it is. That's a great one to use for dueling. Want me to teach you?" I nodded and Kit read over the papyrus and recited the spell.  
  
...................................  
  
A few hours later it was nightfall. I had learned the Change of Heart spell and Kit had translated the spells I liked into hieroglyphics, at least I'd be able to read them. Raise Dead interested me, Kit told me that in a duel it was a very good spell, but that it couldn't be used outside a duel, but that she had no idea why. I wondered if it was because the dark world didn't like giving up its sacrifices.  
  
"Congratulations Baku." Kit walked up to me, smiled and handed me a stick of what looked like meat. "You've mastered in less than a day what it took me weeks of practice to do. Of course you have a millennium item so you've got quite an advantage over ordinary duelists."  
  
"What's this?" I asked after taking a bite.  
  
"That? Spitting cobra jerky," Kit giggled. "I was saving it for travel food, but I didn't have anything else."  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"To Europe. I've heard there are plenty of deep forests that humans haven't penetrated there. I'm hoping to find a nice quite place without humans to settle down, live my life without worrying about getting caught, that sort of thing. I want to find someplace just for me." Kit took a bite out of her piece of cobra jerky and chewed thoughtfully. "Before I left the temple I daydreamed about finding a spell to loose all the monsters in the temple's tablets and escape with my little chimera in the confusion. I must admit I don't really like being alone."  
  
"What are you Kit? I thought you were a demon, why can't you live with other demons?"  
  
"You're pretty sharp. I'm only a hanyou, half demon, half human. Demons in the light world don't like hanyou, they think we're nothing but trash, not yokai enough to be one of them, not human enough... Never mind."  
  
"What were you going to say?"  
  
......................................  
  
Kit  
  
"Nothing, it doesn't concern you." I bit my lip, it did concern him, it concerned all humans, but... I didn't want to tell him the truth, that many yokai eat humans. It would scare him. Why was I worried about scaring him away? He was OK for a human, but I'd start north in the morning and even if he could accept me for what I was other humans wouldn't, sooner or later I'd get caught. I didn't want to fight, didn't want to have to kill. Human blood, even if I'm only half yokai my mother was a man-eater. I'm so afraid of being that too. Humans would attack me for being a monster when our paths crossed, but they would hunt me down and kill me if I ever acquired a taste for human flesh.  
  
......................................  
  
Yami Bakura  
  
Kit seemed troubled. I wondered what she was concealing. "You know you don't have to protect me." Kit looked troubled as she looked at me. "You can summon, but you don't have a millennium item. I don't understand how normal humans could do that, is that something that comes with being a hanyou?"  
  
"Yes and no." Kit reached under her shirt and drew out a small pendant, a bi-pyramidal piece of golden stone. "My father gave me this when I was little, he said it would help me draw out my natural magic. My mother was a white tiger yokai, but my father was a human magician, he said I would have magic too. Doesn't seem like I have a lot, just enough to make those priestesses think I was a goddess, whether I wanted them to or not. I don't think I would be able to do anything without it"  
  
"What is it? It looks a little like a millennium item."  
  
"No, but I suppose you could call this millennium slag. When metal is refined some things are left over, that's called slag. This is a piece of slag left over from the metal the millennium items were made out of. I've heard that there are staffs made out of this stuff that duelists without millennium items can use to call monsters, but I don't think there are many of these raw crystals left."  
  
"You refer to the items as millennium items, why?"  
  
"Just a legend that I was told as a child. Long ago monsters, yokai, other demons, forest spirits, mythical creatures in general all lived in another world, the dark world. There were some humans in the dark world but they were few and far between, most learned either to be warriors or magicians to survive. The residence of the dark world didn't know about the light world just as the light world didn't know about the dark world. Every so often a temporary gate would open between the two and creatures would wander through it and humans from the light world would deal with them and then tell stories of fantastic beasts that could never be proven but also never be forgotten." Kit paused. "It didn't help that when the dark world monsters were defeated in the light world their remains vanished back into the dark world. Humans know so very little about their world, they assumed the monsters came from the deep forests or the high mountains or the unexplored seas. About a thousand years ago in Egypt a sorcerer actually opened a permanent gateway between the light and dark worlds. In the dark world he took a metal alloy from a cave called Heart of the World, with it he forged the seven millennium items that would allow him and his followers to control the dark world and with its power conquer the light. The residence of the dark world rose up against the sorcerer and his followers and a great battle ensued. Although their efforts failed before he died a powerful demon lord placed a curse on the millennium items, 'These items of power shall be known as millennium items, remember that although you have beaten us you will not win, after one thousand years the gateway will be sealed and the power of the millennium items sleep.' He also put a curse on one of the millennium items in particular, that when thousands of years had passed and the power of the items was forgotten that darkness would rise again to conquer the world that had tried to conquer it."  
  
"Which item was the curse placed on?"  
  
"No one knows, that knowledge was never preserved so that the item in question could never be destroyed. It could even be your ring."  
  
I put my hand on the ring on my chest. It didn't feel particularly evil, for the first time I wondered why I had been chosen by an item like this.  
  
"I have also heard that once you bond with an item you accept the destiny of that item and shall be bound to it until you die."  
  
"You said the gateway was open, why aren't there monsters all over the place?"  
  
"Because the free monsters want to stay free, so they hide. Also the gateway isn't fully open. It would take all seven millennium items to either seal it or open it all the way."  
  
"My ring was in this tomb. I wonder how many of the other items are still hidden, I bet I could find them with my ring."  
  
"Baku, what are you thinking?"  
  
"I don't know." I realized that I had been thinking of opening the gateway, but why should I want to do that? From what Kit said that would essentially doom humanity. "Kit?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"What else can you tell me? About the Dark World I mean?"  
  
"I have heard it has a feudal kingdom system of government. Humanity in the dark world is split up into several kingdoms; some kingdoms are bound together under one king, but are ruled by several lords," Kit took a drink from a canteen I hadn't realized she had. After she had finished I reached for it, mine was still at home. Kit handed me the bottle and continued, "The monsters all live differently. The majority of monsters is independent and stake out small territories all over the dark world, most of the minor monsters have really small territories and wandering monsters aren't expected to respect all boundaries. Some of the more powerful monsters band together in certain areas, dragons typically live on mountains. I have never seen it but I have read that there are some monsters who are born with naturally human shapes, but that can transform into shapes that resemble their brethren. These demons often become leaders because of their ability to interact with humans. Demon lords are very rare but they often have more humanoid forms and greater powers than other demons. What else? Er, oh, right, the dark world doesn't have a sun."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Well, that's what I've heard, or at least that it doesn't have a bright sun like earth, it had a sun god, Ra, the same as Egypt has, but Ra was captured and sealed into a stone tablet. Now the only light in the dark world comes from the moon and I don't really know where. That's about all I can think of right now." Kit reached for the water bottle and I handed it back, she took a drink and asked me. "Baku, how would you like to come to Europe with me?"  
  
"Why should I?"  
  
Kit shrugged, "I was just thinking that since you seem to be a wanted man here you might want to leave. You're OK and I wouldn't mind you as a traveling buddy."  
  
"I don't know, Egypt's always been my home."  
  
"Well you think about it. Now it's time to sleep." Kit looked around and located a ledge some twenty feet up, just below the ceiling. I'll sleep up there. There are probably some pillows or something that you could sleep on." Kit leapt up and almost made it to the ledge, as it was she caught it with her hands and had to scramble up. "Goodnight, Baku," she said before curling up on the ledge. I found a pile of pillows, royal purple with gold embroidery, and settled down for the night. They were very comfortable; this guy sure knew how to live in the afterlife.  
  
......................................  
  
The next day when I woke up Kit was already awake. She was taking things out of the tomb, most of the things I recognized as being from her food stash, but there were one or two things... "Kit! Those are mine!"  
  
"What, these?" She held up a pair of blankets she had found in the tomb. "You haven't actually stolen them yet." I glared at her and she relented, "Fine, I didn't really need these anyway, it's just nice to have a blanket to huddle under during the cold desert nights but hey, I'm a hanyou, I can take it."  
  
"I'm glad, because you aren't taking any of my treasure."  
  
Kit dropped the blankets on the pile of pillows I had used as a bed. "Goodbye, Baku. It's been nice knowing you. Maybe we'll meet again, maybe not, I don't know." Kit looked a little sad. "I'll miss you, you know, you're the closest thing I've ever had to a friend."  
  
.........................  
  
Time passed. After Kit taught me how to summon I became a duelist. I wasn't unknown anymore, although I like staying hidden, the high priest in particular loves attention, I don't know how he can stand it. I didn't really need to rob tombs any more, but, well everyone needs a hobby and mine was raiding tombs. Anyway it made all the other duelists nervous.  
  
Do you know the feeling of seeing a group of men charging at you? To cast a spell on them that turns them against each other? Seeing that stirred something in me, something dark and mischievous, something that likes seeing people consumed by fear. I laughed as my pursuers fought each other; comrades in arms were now deadly enemies.  
  
Ah, those were the days. I hadn't yet appeared in front of the pharaoh or within the palace, I was just practicing, I wanted to be ready. But you know, it's fun terrorizing people, I soon learned that the monsters that caused the most fear were those associated with death. Tablets containing monsters that resembled rotted corpses, a mummy, anything that reminds humans of death terrifies them.  
  
................................  
  
Yami Yugi  
  
"He's a menace I tell you!" One of my advisers was shouting as he paced back and forth in front of me, most unseemly behavior before the pharaoh. "People killing each other under that damn Change of Heart curse he puts on them. Pharaoh, how can you let this continue?"  
  
I sighed and looked at him from atop my throne. "He is, by all accounts, a millennium item holder. As such he must be defeated in a proper duel. I have sent out a messenger to invite him to the palace"  
  
"You can't! A scoundrel like him! Here?"  
  
I glared at him, it's rude to interrupt and often fatal to interrupt someone in power "for a duel. If I win he must stop this cruel misuse of his powers."  
  
"And if you loose?" asked the smooth, calm voice of my high priest, Seto.  
  
"That will be for him to decide."  
  
**************************************************************************** *******  
  
Devil Dragon: AKA Koumori Dragon. I'll probably use the Japanese names (if I know them) for one or two cards, either because I like them better, because I can spell them more easily or because it makes more sense in Egypt to call something Elvin Swordsmen than it would to call it Celtic Guardian (because why would the Egyptians know about the Celts in this timeframe?).  
  
I think the King of Yamimakai is called King of the World of Darkness, but I'm not 100% sure.  
  
For those who don't want to see Kit go she will return, maybe next chapter, maybe the one after, I won't know till that chapter is written. 


	10. Battle

OK, I know everyone has said this before (I'm a little late, so sue me) but dub Malik's voice really sucks. It sounds too much like the Green Goblin from Spiderman and not at all like a 16 year old boy (and yes people Malik is 16, it says so in the 10th subtitled DVD when Isis tells Yugi-tachi about why Malik wants Yami dead). I have been withholding judgment (kind of) because it would be marginally acceptable for Yami Malik (although the Japanese voice is still better) and I wonder if they'll change it (like that will happen) when the two become separate entities.  
  
OK, chapter 10. Finally updated, been having a bit of trouble writing lately (homework, writer's block, etc.).  
  
Yami Bakura's Egyptian name was apparently Nahkti, thanks to Rakia for the info.  
  
Once again I do not own Yu-gi-oh or any of the other stuff that went into making this story, except my mind, I'm pretty sure I own my mind.  
  
Malik: Are you sure about that?  
  
YN: *Glares at Malik* Don't even try it mister.  
  
Oh, also info on the Japanese card names comes from Edo's Yu-gi-oh site.  
  
**************************************************************************** ************  
  
Yami Bakura  
  
"Your presence is requested at the palace immediately for a duel with the pharaoh." I looked down; the man who addressed me was a little shorter than I am and dressed as a simple servant.  
  
Interesting, so the pharaoh himself had challenged me to a duel; I had, of course planned to challenge him eventually, but one doesn't just challenge the greatest duelist in Egypt without first preparing, I had hoped to hone my skills for at least a month before challenging him. "Interesting, what if I refuse?"  
  
The man looked flustered; apparently the thought of refusing the pharaoh's request hadn't occurred to him. I laughed. "I'll come to the palace with you. As for the duel, well, I'll discuss it with pharaoh."  
  
The man bowed and led me to the palace. No royal parade or anything, at least that was nice, I don't like being the center of attention. At the palace the guards let us through but as I entered I was stopped by the pharaoh's adviser. "Halt."  
  
"Sir, we are here to see the pharaoh as per his instructions."  
  
"I know that, but that riffraff won't see him like that, he reeks. Take him to the baths; once he's clean he can appear before the pharaoh."  
  
I was sorely tempted to send him into darkness right there and then, yes I had never had what a modern person would call a decent bath but neither had most of Egypt. Long, luxurious baths were only for the wealthy and those wishing to risk the crocodiles in the Nile River. I did wash regularly and resented the accusation that I was some worthless tramp.  
  
Grumbling I allowed myself to be shown to the common baths, of course the pharaoh's bath was off limits to riffraff like me.  
  
.................................  
  
Yami Yugi  
  
"You plan to use him don't you?" Seto and I were playing senet, an Egyptian board game. This was one of our favorite pastimes while we discussed topics, most recently these were the puzzle of the dark games.  
  
"I do," I replied. "This is the first time in almost 1000 years that the millennium ring has appeared. In order for the plan to work we must have the owner of the ring as well as the ring itself."  
  
"And you think finding another owner would be so difficult?" Seto moved a piece and smiled, he'd landed on a good square. "I think you should use the game of darkness to banish him, a trained priest can handle the ring."  
  
"I don't know. The fact that this boy is the first in centuries to possess it suggests so."  
  
"Where is he now?"  
  
"My adviser said he wouldn't allow him to see me until he had washed up."  
  
"I don't like that guy."  
  
"Neither do I, he's too strict, and hungry for power. One of the servants even reported hearing him conspire to overthrow me." I moved and frowned, I had hit a bad square although the misfortune it bestowed wasn't too bad.  
  
"You should get rid of him as soon as possible." Seto also hit a bad square, he would loose a turn.  
  
"I know, however I will let him make the first move."  
  
"Yamasen, when you have dueled with that guy, if you are still alive duel with me. If you win I will go along with the plan, however if I win you must let me find an alternate solution."  
  
"I know your misgivings Seto; however I see no possible alternative." I moved a piece and smiled. "Looks like I win again."  
  
A servant entered. "Your guest, Baku, has refreshed himself and seeks audience with you my pharaoh."  
  
.............................  
  
Seto  
  
Yamasen got up and walked out of the room. The guard was leading him even though he stayed a step behind Yamasen. No one but the royal guards precedes the pharaoh.  
  
"You always win, my friend," I whispered when he was gone. I got up and started putting away the senet board. I didn't have to, the servants would have come in and done so, but this game, in a way, represented the bond between myself and the pharaoh.  
  
..................................  
  
Yami Bakura  
  
I paced the room angrily. How dare they make me wait like this when I had come at their insistence! It wasn't that I was annoyed at having to bathe, a long soak in a large tub was actually quite pleasant, it was everything. How dare they insist I come, how dare they disapprove of my lifestyle, how dare they keep me waiting when they had wanted to see me! I was getting angrier by the second when the pharaoh walked in.  
  
"I am sorry for the inconvenience; I was in an important conference with my high priest."  
  
"If you had an important conference," I sneered, "why did you insist on my coming today?"  
  
"As pharaoh I get few breaks, today seemed relatively calm so I thought it would be a good day to challenge you."  
  
"I see. And what exactly is the penalty for loosing this challenge?" I smiled, that caught him off guard. That reassured me; he had no idea what Kit had taught me. He probably thought I was just some street kid who'd gotten a millennium item and didn't know how to use it, I'd show him.  
  
"If you loose the penalty is that your soul will be sealed away for eternity."  
  
I laughed and he looked at me curiously. "Sealed? Inside what?"  
  
"Inside the shadow realm."  
  
"Shadow Realm?" I asked. Kit hadn't told me about this, of course she probably didn't know everything.  
  
"You may have heard that the power of the millennium items comes from the dark world, however in the place where the light and dark worlds meet there is a place called the Shadow Realm. It is not part of either world but connects both and will consume the souls of any who enter it."  
  
"I see, so if you are defeated you will also go to this shadow realm?"  
  
"I won't loose."  
  
"Feh, you are arrogant. Are you afraid of being destroyed? Fine, if I loose my soul will be sealed away, however if you loose your life is mine to do with as I please."  
  
................................  
  
Yami Yugi  
  
"Fine." God would judge this match. It would be unfair to force him to be sealed when I would not accept some punishment.  
  
We entered the dueling room and I looked over to see the latest sacrifice. It was a young man, a petty thief who had been caught, I had know idea what he had stolen but I could tell he was a thief, the bloody stump where his right hand should have been told me that. I felt bad, no matter what the results in these games someone had to die. If that boy was to survive I would have to kill Baku, if Baku won that boy, who had done less to deserve death, would die. 'Is this game really right?' I wondered. 'Sealing the monsters away has brought peace to the kingdom, but why must we fight like this and take lives?' No, this wasn't the time for doubt, if I doubted myself I wouldn't be able to concentrate like I needed to in a dark game. My opponent was standing on the other side; he looked cocky, too cocky for someone who had never fought one of these duels before. Maybe that's why he was so confident, he didn't know this was real, that someone would die today in this room.  
  
"So pharaoh, are we actually going do duel or are you going to back out?"  
  
"Duel, start!" I shouted. "I'll go first." He didn't object, by law the pharaoh always goes first. I scanned the tablets in front of me. Many were low level monsters but my faithful Black Magician was there, ready to serve me. In addition one of the god cards, Obelisk, the protector of the palace, was present. I wouldn't loose, that I was sure of. I was an undefeated duelist. Besides, I would have to win, for everyone's sakes. I should probably set a trap, but magic takes energy, even by using the energy stored in my millennium puzzle I didn't have infinite energy, plus if I used a trap that I never used it would take my concentration to maintain it, if I forgot about the magic it could accidentally erupt and hurt the priests watching.  
  
"Summon Elven Swordsman to the field in attack pose." I raised my hand and a tablet rose from the floor and a warrior wearing green with pointy ears, catlike eyes and a face that for some reason reminded me of an antelope appeared. Well, I would see how he reacted to my card.  
  
"Feh, that little thing? You've got to be kidding me. I'll summon Headless Knight and destroy your swordsman." He summoned a monster that appeared to be a knight in armor without a head. It dashed forward and struck down my swordsman. I could feel my swordsman die and felt my life-force decrease. Even if I wasn't killed by this game I would be knocked out if I lost. "Plus I'll add this spell." he chanted and a mark appeared.  
  
................................... Yami Bakura  
  
I stared at my enemy. This was the perfect plan and my opponent didn't even realize the trap he was stepping into.  
  
"My turn," the pharaoh called across the room. "Summon Gazelle to the field and attack!"  
  
I laughed. "This is too easy pharaoh! Activate trap Hexagram Curse!" The mark on the floor in front of me flared and changed into a bright hexagram which wrapped around Gazelle. "Now I'll sacrifice Headless Knight and call out Demon Summon and attack your gazelle." The Headless Knight vanished into a whirlwind of dark energy out of which rose what looked like a giant skinned body with demon wings, face and head. It roared and sent out a bolt of lightning that fried the pharaoh's gazelle. I laughed as the wind from the monster's destruction whipped my hair and clothes. "What's wrong pharaoh? I thought you were supposed to be good, but I've practically brought you to your knees!"  
  
He chuckled. "Are you sure Baku? Power isn't the only thing that's important, either in this game or in life." He chanted something, words I could not catch, but then I wasn't suppose to. "Swords of Light!" he shouted as swords rained down, paralyzing my Demon. "This will keep your monsters sealed for three turns; in the mean time I call Ruiz in defense mode."  
  
"Three turns? What will that do?"  
  
"Wait and see Baku."  
  
..............................  
  
Three turns later. "You're three free turns are over pharaoh," I sneered as the swords vanished from around my monster. "What have they gotten you anyway?"  
  
"I have everything I need to show you god." The pharaoh raised his right hand and I felt power stirring throughout the room. Power like I've never felt before. "I'll use Ruiz, Gremlin and Silver Fang to call out Obelisk, the protector of the palace." He smiled. "It's over Baku, you've fought valiantly. Obelisk, attack the Demon." Obelisk's fist shot toward my Demon, it wouldn't completely destroy my life points, not that it mattered, I couldn't fight a god.  
  
"Obelisk, stop!" I looked behind me and saw Kit standing in the doorway. How had she gotten here anyway? I thought this was supposed to be a private duel. I thought she was supposed to be in Europe. She ran onto the field between the two sets of monsters and held out her arms. "Stop Obelisk, don't attack, this boy isn't your enemy the pharaoh is. Obelisk?" The god's hand connected with my Demon, shattering it into a million pieces. She stopped and stared, the god hadn't even paid attention to her, not that that surprised me, she isn't really a duelist. "Obelisk? Why are you working for these heretics?" Kit's voice fell, confused. Her ears lowered and she started to shrink back, whatever had made her bold before had vanished.  
  
"Who is this? A yokai? Well I'm happy to see you young lady, it makes my job so much easier when my pray comes to me," the high priest sounded confident. I tensed, Kit was my friend, wasn't she? Even if she wasn't I didn't really want her to be sealed away. Kit also heard the man's voice, I'm sure that if her face hadn't been covered by white and gray fur she would have blanched.  
  
"Kit, get back! This isn't your duel!" I shouted and she turned to look at me confused.  
  
"Why doesn't he respond? Can't he hear me?"  
  
"Kit." I walked up to her and slapped her. "Run away, you'll get caught if you stay here."  
  
"Baku. Our gods are dead. I always thought they were just imprisoned, that if they were freed everything would be fine. But Obelisk can't even disobey."  
  
"Are you going to continue the duel Baku?" Asked the pharaoh from across the room, "Or would you rather surrender?"  
  
"I'm going to loose anyway aren't I?"  
  
"Yes, there are no miracles that can stop god."  
  
"Pharaoh, whether I surrender or not, will you let this girl leave?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"She has done nothing to you or anyone else that makes her deserve the fate your high priest would give her. If you would seal an innocent girl away, maybe it is you and not I who should be destroyed."  
  
"Her kind has been responsible for countless deaths among our people. Why should we spare her on the word of a thief?" asked the high priest coldly.  
  
Kit looked up at him and her eyes hardened. "You!" She spat angrily. "You're the bastard who massacred my village! Even if our gods are dead and there is no hope for my people I'll still see you dead before I'm sealed."  
  
"Feh, if you think you have a chance I'll accept a challenge from you. First lets finish this duel."  
  
"Pharaoh, it's been fun, but I'm afraid I'm not ready to be sealed away just yet." I put my hands up around the ring and used its power to knock out everyone human in the room. "We will meet again, and next time I shall be the winner!" I laughed as I started to walk out of the room. Behind me Kit looked up, she had been affected by the power but not as much as the humans.  
  
"Baku?" she whispered.  
  
................................  
  
Kit  
  
I was confused. My gods, what had happened to them anyway? Obelisk acted as if it was just a puppet of the human pharaoh, were Ra and Osiris like that too? I had been certain that Baku would loose the match, against god there is no hope, none at all.  
  
I looked around, everyone who had been in the room had been standing, the pharaoh had fallen but, that was strange, one of the stone tablets, with an image of a magician holding a staff, had risen up and caught him. That was odd, could the monster actually like the pharaoh? That seemed odd; even if it was his special monster why protect him if it wasn't called on? Sure, I had protected Baku, but, well, that was different, he wasn't my master he was a friend, sort of. Baku had grown dark since I first met him. I wondered if it was the effect of the ring.  
  
I shook my head again to clear it. I'd better go; when these guys woke up they would be dangerous. I looked over at the high priest, crumpled on the ground where he'd fallen. I could take my revenge now, but ... no killing a helpless opponent is wrong.  
  
I turned and was about to leave when suddenly I heard a high pitched sound. I think I heard myself cry out, but I'm not sure because I passed out.  
  
"Well well, it looks like this yokai whistle works just fine," chuckled the pharaoh's right hand man, Simon Muran.  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
Pseudo-cliffhanger, I'm afraid Baku can't be sacrificed just yet. What will happen to him? I haven't a clue right now.  
  
Elven Swordsman: Celtic Guardian. I've observed that this is the card Yami Yugi summons as an opener if he doesn't take his opponent seriously.  
  
Demon Summon: Summoned Skull. Guess 4Kids didn't like the idea of giving kids the notion that they can summon demons.  
  
Hexagram Curse: Spellbinding Circle. If you look even in the dubbed anime a hexagram (6 pointed star) appears around the affected monster. I guess 4Kids doesn't like the occult themes involved in hexagrams.  
  
Ruiz: Beaver Warrior. No idea. Earth/Animal Warrior/4/1200/1500  
  
Gremlin: Feral Imp. Does look like a gremlin (again 4Kids logic in changing this escapes me).  
  
I know, someone's going to complain about how easily Yami Yugi was getting beaten at the beginning of the match. That is for three reasons: One is that Yami Bakura is no pushover, and in his past life I've read he was really strong so that only the god cards could hurt his monster, Diabound. The other reason is as I said before Yami Yugi always uses Elven Swordsman when he doesn't take his opponent seriously and almost always ends up getting his royal behind kicked at first because of it. The third reason is simply that a one-sided match is boring. 


End file.
